5 Can’t Miss Online Video Marketing Tips to Maximize Your ROI

With the advent of the camera phone, video “production” began to rise. Video cameras are more affordable and accessible than ever; they’re even built into our everyday phones. This trend only continued with the sale of the GoPro, and the rise of YouTube. Now, there’s vine, Vimeo, and loads of other video hosting and social media video sites that are on the rise. More and more devices are able to play and stream videos, thus more people than ever before are watching videos. Are you targeting this video loving audience?

This is incredible news for marketers. The popularity of video content is skyrocketing, giving businesses tremendous opportunity for better SEO and increased ROI through the use of video marketing.

#1. Video Marketing Opens The Doors to a Massive Market

By 2018, 79% of all internet traffic is expected to be from video. After reviewing dozens and dozens of statistics, I have not found any indicators that do not suggest growth. This trend in growth is expected to continue, and even increase. According to YouTube, the number of people that watch videos each day has increased by 40% within the last year. It’s obvious and simple: video content gives you access to a massive audience.

#2. Why Is Video Content So Popular?

Not only does video open the doors to all of these viewers, it also increases viewer engagement statistics. According to this Forbes article, adults are 39% more likely to share video content and 56% more likely to ‘like’ video content than traditional text content.

Video content is so popular because audience engagement occurs so quickly. Assuming that you need to engage your audience within the first 10 seconds, video content is the best choice for achieving rapid engagement. Refer back to our previous article about marketing to millennials; you’ll notice that I mention that visual content is key. Think about this, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million.

#3. Search Engines Favor Video Content Over Traditional Text

Video content has a direct impact on the search engine results. Rich content, including video, is favored by the latest search engine algorithm changes. Furthermore, search engines, like Google are constantly adjusting their algorithms to give their users a more desired and targeted experience. Because everyone loves videos, they are consistently featured at the top of the results in Google.

#4. Improving Your Reach with Video Marketing

HOWEVER, You must keep in mind that there are probably thousands of cute pet and baby videos out there, so standing out among them is no easy task. The first step to optimize your video content is to make sure that you are making great, relevant and beneficial content. Frankly, people will not share bad content. Your video should be engaging, entertaining, informative and easily sharable.

To make sure people are able to find your video when performing a search, you need to use keywords and tags in your title, filename, transcript and headline. It is extremely important that you ensure the tags are actually relevant. Sites like YouTube typically no longer prioritize videos based on the number of views; instead their ranking results are based off of relevance of the search, and “view time”.

Think of this like the bounce rate; the longer someone spends watching your video, the better. So if your tag includes “cute puppy,” but your video is actually about technology, then people will likely click away from your video pretty quickly, and this will negatively impact your ranking.

#5. Which Hosting Site Should You Choose?

For many, the first choice for a hosting site is YouTube. While it does have a great deal of unique visitors (and therefore a lot of people that could see your video), hosting through YouTube gives you less control over the ownership of the content.

Paid sites such as Vimeo, Wistia and SproutVideo, give you more ownership, guidance and control, and they will provide you with ways in which you can promote your video through other networks to increase its exposure.

Ultimately if you have a good quality video that is appealing and connects with your audience, and you properly promote your videos through sharing it with social sites and video hosting sites, you will get the desired audience and traffic to help boost your ROI.